Charles Holland, Head of Residential Development and Investment at Marsh & Parsons, commented: The latest RICS figures show a construction market that’s making steady headway, albeit not at the fast and furious rates we have seen over previous quarters. Workloads among private housing companies continue to increase, suggesting that spurred on by Government policies such as Help to Buy and home discounts demand at the first-time buyer end of the market remains high, and housebuilders are catering for this.
“Within London, despite remaining well above the long-term average, this quarter has seen the construction of new homes fall by around 40%. According to the GLA, the capital needs to deliver 42,000 homes over the next 10 years to keep pace with demand in the market and at this pace of construction growth, we will struggle to meet this target.
“There’s been much talk about loosening planning permission and freeing up Government land as a way of taking residential construction in the capital up to the next level. Both are valid points but addressing the current skills shortage in the construction industry is the real key to unlocking a housebuilding boom. With the profession still struggling to replenish the jobs it lost post-financial crisis, a concerted Government effort to get more people into building jobs would increase construction output, so we can start hitting the levels of housebuilding the capital urgently requires.”
Go Back
@marshandparsons